Klatuu and Sec. of State Kerry

Watching Sec. Kerry at his news conference in Baghdad the other day (June 2014), I was reminded of Klatuu’s admonishment to the gathered dignitaries invited by Dr. Barnhart. Klatuu was to speak to those gathered to warn the world that it faces total oblivion unless they contain their nuclear bomb ambitions. (Not sure if Klatuu wanted earth to cease nuclear energy production, but he did get to earth on what sounded pretty close to nuclear propulsion, so I doubt he would have chastised us for nuclear power.) If you recall the movie, The Day The Earth Stood Stll (1951) the premise was that the earth’s nations could no longer “dabble “ in nuclear weapons because it threatened the stability of nearby planets. So long as the earth conducted wars amongst themselves that was OK. But with advent of missile technology and the ability to launch such missiles into space ( I guess just straight up without trajectory), well that was unacceptable. I have taken Klatuu’s final warning speech and dropped the Iraq/Middle East turmoil into the subject matter rather than the Klatuu’s world wide threat. And let’s put Sec Kerry near the emotional breaking point , straining under the heavy pressure of modern day diplomacy in a volatile part of the world. Sec. Kerry stands at the podium. Next to him is a life size cardboard cut-out of the robot Gort. He measures the room and in a solemn tone begins: "I am leaving soon and you will forgive me if I speak bluntly. The Universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group -- anywhere -- can no longer be tolerated. "There must be security for all -- or no one is secure... This does not mean giving up any freedom except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Like here in the Middle East, folks. "Our ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves -- and hired policemen to enforce them. And I don’t mean the Iranian Quds. "We today have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual benefit of all nations. The United Nations, for darn sake. The test of any such higher authority, of course, is the police force that supports it. "The robot to my left is the policeman to other planets. I wish we had robots like Gort to act as our policeman. I mean Gort’s function would be to police the world and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression I would give them absolute power over us. You see? "At the first sign of violence, robot Gort here would act automatically against the aggressor. And the penalty for provoking Gort’s action would be too terrible to risk. We wouldn’t have had WWII, Korea and Viet Nam wars, Kosovo, I mean guys , I mean robots like Gort would have kicked butt. I mean Ernst Rohm would have the crap kicked out of him long before the Long Knives stuff. "The result would be that the world would live in peace. The Middle East would live in peace. We could position a Gort robot in every mosque. And if you want, Gort could be programmed to perform salat 5 times per day. We’d have to rearrange his knee joints to allow him to kneel and then rise , but well, we can work on it. The world would be without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war -- free to pursue more profitable enterprises. "Now this would not be perfection – but it would be a viable system and it could work. We have to perfect our computation process of course and find a company that can produce the Gorts, but we can do that. My Gorts won’t have a stitch line running along the back like the movie’s version. If I can parasail, why we can’t build robots. Right? "I came here to give you the facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own part of the planet but if you threaten to extend your violence, these Gorts could reduce you to a burned- out cinder "Your choice is simple. Live in peace. Or pursue your present course -- and face obliteration by these armies of robots like Gort. We will be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you. And as Sec Kerry turns from the podium, he grabs the cut out of Gort and exclaims: 'Gort ,veracto.'